Forum Topic

One swallow doesn’t make a summer

Just seen one. Poor beast will starve to death.

Ken Munn ● 1999d24 Comments

Why?

Anne England ● 1999d

not enough flies i'd imagine.

Rob Reynolds ● 1999d

Lots of insects around.

Simon Temple ● 1999d

Funnily enough we were just observing that when the sun comes out our garden seems to be full of clouds of gnats or some other small flying insects. I don't think I've ever seen a swallow in Chiswick though I always look forward to the arrival of the swifts. Sadly every year there seem to be fewer and fewer of them

Bruce Hammal ● 1999d

I was delighted to recently see a kestrel hunting and hovering over Homfields.Better still I spotted one on three different occasions which sent me wondering if there is a mating pair.I have just returned from rural Suffolk and heard my first cuckoo. Brilliant!

Adrian Irving ● 1999d

That's a sparrowhawk. It's caught both mice and starlings from my garden.The screech from the starling as it was caught was heart-rending. The hawk then hopped across the garden and proceeded to drown the victim in my pond before I disturbed it and it flew to the roof of the house opposite and started eating the starling whilst it was still alive.

Rosi Krupa ● 1999d

Nature, red in tooth and claw....I have pictures taken at my previous house in Stamford Brook of a sparrowhawk plucking and eating a pigeon on my lawn. Fortunately his meal had already been butchered elsewhere - I was just left to clean up what remained! Sadly he (or she) has not followed me to the new house across the A4 - I could certainly do with some help in moving on the numerous wood pigeons who have their toilet tree in my garden. That's the trouble with wildlife - it tends to be a bit too wild for some of us.Nothing can quite prepare you for the real thing, unfiltered by television.

Bruce Hammal ● 1998d

I am unaware the sparrowhawks hover so I am happy with my identification.The birds I saw hovered at about two hundred feet, flew on, then hovered again, swooped but didn't follow through.There was a time they were a common sight beside motorways but then largely disappeared. Recently I have noticed something of a recovery.Sparrowhawks are ambush hunters and attack in just the way you describe.Anyway, all good news.

Adrian Irving ● 1998d

Indeed. Kestrels are a lovely sight. Red Kites are now commonplace along the M4 corridor since their reintroduction a few years back. I think it's probably only a matter of time before they start turning up in London - that will no doubt cause a few squeals. At the other end of the avian food chain I am seeing starlings in some numbers for the first time in many years, as well as a few sparrows. I could do without the parakeets though!

Bruce Hammal ● 1998d

First swift just sighted over Grove Park.

Bruce Hammal ● 1998d

Swallows, swifts and martins all feed while on the wing - catching insects.  Do you remember when after a trip down the motorway you always had to clean the car windscreen?  I've never discovered if it is just the use of pesticides, insecticides or whatever which have caused this. Or is it just the weather/climate change?  Has there been a change in car design?Is it harder for these birds to find spaces to nest?  As a child I remember them in detached garages and outhouses.I used to always see red kites on the way to Oxford.  They were reintroduced in the Chilterns thirty years ago:https://www.gov.uk/government/news/30-year-anniversary-of-landmark-release-of-red-kites-in-the-chiltern-hills#Peregrine falcons I've seen at Charing Cross Hospital and Chichester Cathedral where they nest amongst other places. There are sometimes webcams.  Many birds return to the same places year after year and even to the same nest.  Some amazing journeys are made.  Sadly not everyone welcomes them.

Philippa Bond ● 1997d

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b01s8mngAmong the fascinating facts here: Swifts fly up to 500 miles a day, 3 million miles in their lifetime. The majority of their diet consists of floating spiders.Peregrines have made a spectacular comeback in London - there are many breeding pairs all over the city (including at Tate Modern).I have seen one hunting at the Shard.https://londonist.com/london/great-outdoors/peregrine-falcons

Bruce Hammal ● 1997d

..and one cyclist doesn't justify £70M being spent on a cycle lane. Poor best might have to learn to deal with the 21st century.

Charlotte Kasner ● 1996d

Total utter rubbish coming from you Charlotte. You anti cycling fiend. Start riding a bike and get that backsideof yours sorted.

Chris Vessey ● 1995d

Well said, Charlotte. The empty vessel stil rattles loudly and loves the sound of its own voice, and how.

Claire Moran ● 1995d

Thanks for that, Bruce, indeed, that is fascinating stuff.

Claire Moran ● 1995d

And here we go again....A perfectly enjoyable and agreeable thread was rolling along gently, when someone has to ruin it by using (abusing?) it to have a dig at their own particular bete noire, in this case cycling, followed up swiftly (sorry) by an accomplice.Which would be bad enough, only that this forum already has a plethora of threads on that particular topic.So for God's sake give it a rest you two, before you blow a gasket!

Richard Cathcart ● 1995d

Hmm, Richard, you have posted very many times on here so you can't object to orders wanting a say. I violently disagree with most of what you post but, unlike  you  don't try to close down conversations u disagree with. Would be good if you could be more tolerant of the views of those that are very different to yours. Sadly I think you are too set in you intolerant ways.

Claire Moran ● 1995d

Sorry  posting on phone which seems to make its own mind up. Hopefully you got the gist!

Claire Moran ● 1995d

CM: "I violently disagree with most of what you post but, unlike  you  don't try to close down conversations u disagree with"No-one is trying to close you down.I am merely asking that you direct your thoughts on cycling to any one of the numerous threads on cycling, and allow the rest of us to enjoy a thread on nature.I mean, you were doing so well with your reply to Bruce, before you allowed Charlotte K to set you off again.

Richard Cathcart ● 1995d

'Doing so well'. Usual patronising blinkered gumph from you.

Claire Moran ● 1995d

It was a pleasant thread until taken completely off topic.

Carl Wynne ● 1995d

That was my thought. Fortunately an alternative avian thread has started up and is now spreading to include martins and terns! Let's try and keep that one aloft for longer than this one managed....

Bruce Hammal ● 1995d

I was delighted to see Swifts for the first time yesterday!

Carl Wynne ● 1995d